


Enigma of the Absolute

by a_lanart



Series: Myth and Magic [4]
Category: Highlander: The Series, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: consci_fan_mo, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-09
Updated: 2011-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_lanart/pseuds/a_lanart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the prompt: “There's more magic in a baby's first giggle than in any<br/>firestorm a wizard can conjure up, and don't let anyone tell you any different.” ― Jim Butcher, Fool Moon</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enigma of the Absolute

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** : Gaius and Hunith belong to the BBC,   
> Panzer/Davis own their concept of immortality  
> Blaise belongs to me  
> Title from the song by Dead Can Dance

~*~

Enigma of the Absolute

*

The firelight flickered over the sleeping face of baby Hunith as her mother rocked the cradle with her foot, humming softly as she finished mending a tear in one of Gaius' tunics. He'd protested, insisting that he could do it himself but at the time his arms had been full, holding his baby sister close, and his step-mother had laughed in denial as she picked up the offending item.

Gaius turned to his father with a smile.

"You're happy," he said.

"More than I ever thought would be possible again after your mother died. I am a lucky man to have had two such loves in my life. I hope Hunith will make me as proud as you have, Gaius." Gaius' smile widened, it was rare he received such praise.

"I'm sure she will. Master Blaise says she will be a fine woman, and know great joy."

"Is this true?"

"It is," replied Blaise from the shadows. Gaius had presumed Blaise was avoiding the fire to reduce his chance of inadvertently Seeing anything as his disturbing visions had become more frequent of late.

"But will she have magic, like Gaius?"

"None beyond that of a kind heart, which Gaius also bears I am pleased to say," Blaise replied.

Gaius bent his head, not wanting his father, or Master Blaise, to see the flush that stained his cheeks.

"That is good, on both counts. Gaius' gift was always a mystery to me, and to his mother; neither of us had magic."

"Are you so sure of that?" Blaise said.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Take a look around you with fresh eyes, Marcus the Carpenter, and tell me that you don't have magic."

Gaius had no idea if his father did as he was bade, but he decided if Blaise made the suggestion then it was a thing worth doing and raised his head. He'd grown up surrounded by wood fashioned by his father's hand and had never really thought to *look* at what was wrought. He had many more years of experience now and he supposed it would be possible to see things his childish eyes had missed. What he saw was beauty and pride and even love beyond the physical form. His father indeed had talent, just not one that was generally perceived as being magical.

"I don't have magic, seer, just a talent for working with wood."

"And what is magic but another sort of talent? You are a maker, Marcus, and makers have a magic all of their own."

"Perhaps."

Blaise lapsed back into silence in his shadowed corner, presumably happy that he had made his point. The only sounds Gaius could hear in the house were of were of hearth and home; the crackle of the fire, the rhythmic scraping of metal against wood as his father bent his head to his latest task, the gentle rise and fall of his step-mother's voice as she sang to the baby and the soft snuffles Hunith made as she settled deeper into sleep.

Gaius started slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder, though he recognised Blaise's touch in an instant and relaxed with a sigh.

"And here is the greatest magic of all," Blaise whispered into Gaius' ear. "That of life and love. Remember that, even when all else seems hopeless."

"I will," Gaius promised. He made another silent vow to his sister that he would always love her, no matter what happened in their respective lives. He suspected Blaise realised this, for his master gave him the bright smile that made the years and world-weariness pushed on him by his immortality and his Sight fall from his face before patting him gently on the shoulder and retreating back to the shadows. Gaius looked back toward where Hunith was now sleeping peacefully in her cradle and found he agreed with Blaise; life and love were the greatest magics in the world.


End file.
